Written By komlim puldel on Minggu, 21 April 2013 | 23.08

Prime Minister Julia Gillard with Governor General Quentin Bryce and some of her ministers. There are concerns about Labor appointing a new Governor-General before the September 14 election. File picture: Gary RamageSource: News Limited

Fears Gillard wants to lock-in jobs before election

Ex-Labor Premiers touted for plum overseas postings

Abbott says Coalition could overturn appointments

TONY Abbott has warned Julia Gillard against racing to appoint Australia's next Governor-General before the election and is threatening to overturn key Labor appointments if the Coalition wins power.

In a dramatic escalation of pre-poll tensions, the Opposition leader plans to directly raise his concerns over Australia's head of state with Ms Gillard, amid fears Labor wants to lock-in a raft of "jobs for the boys"- style appointments.

An investigation by News Limited can reveal an unprecedented number of one-time Labor MPs and union officials have been appointed to key Commonwealth agencies and statutory bodies, often on lucrative salaries.

See the list of 36 jobs here.

At the same time, former Labor Victorian premiers John Brumby and Steve Bracks have been touted as candidates for one of Australia's high-profile overseas posts, Consul-General in New York. The plum role comes with an annual base salary of around $250,000 and luxurious living conditions in a $25 million apartment on the East River.

A large number of former State MPs wiped out in the most recent NSW and Queensland elections have received generous appointments to Commonwealth boards, including former NSW Minister Verity Firth, ex-Queensland Premier Anna Bligh, ex-West Australian Premier Geoff Gallop and one-time Deputy Victorian Premier John Thwaites.

News Limited does not suggest that any of the appointments were made without merit.

Former Victorian Premier Steve Bracks, pictured right with Bob Hawke at his book launch, is being touted for a plum overseas position. File image

John Howard was attacked for appointing a number of like-minded conservative warriors to Commonwealth boards during his 13 years in office but seasoned Canberra observers say the Gillard Government is "without peer".

The Opposition believes this process will accelerate but is warning that an incoming Coalition government could overturn key reappointments, including the heads of the Australian Electoral Commission and Screen Australia.

There are high-level concerns that Ms Gillard would like to anoint the next Australian head of state before voters go to the polls on September 14.

Senior Coalition sources believe the Government is sifting through a raft of names for the vice-regal position, even though Quentin Bryce's current term finishes in March 2014.

Mr Abbott yesterday issued a blunt warning to Ms Gillard as the Prime Minister was revving up Labor Pary faithful at the Victorian ALP Conference.

"The Coalition is concerned at the Gillard Government's increasing practice of making government appointments now that will not even commence until after the September 14 election," a spokesman for Mr Abbott said.

Former Queensland Premier Anna Bligh is one Labor figure appointed to a government board. File image: Rob Maccoll

"Quite properly, appointments to government positions that will commence after the next election should be the responsibility of either a re-elected Gillard Government, or a new Coalition Government.

"We want to make it very clear that while notnecessarily reflecting on the merits of putative appointees, should it be elected, the Coalition expressly reserves its rights to reconsider any appointments that will commence after the September 14 election."

The latest stoush between the Coalition and the Government comes amid speculation the Government will shortly announce a number of important diplomatic posts, including the role of Consul General to New York.

That position has been filled in the past by Liberal figures, including former South Australian Premier John Olsen and long-time Senator and John Howard ally, Michael Baume.

Mr Brumby, who once employed Ms Gillard as his chief of staff, said the position was "not on my agenda" although he has discussed the possibility of taking the role with business colleagues.

Mr Bracks, who currently holds a number of senior board positions, has also been touted as a potential replacement to Phil Scanlan, whose term expires in September. He was unavailable for comment yesterday.

The Coalition and business have been highly critical of recent appointments to the Fair Work Commission, including former ACTU President Jeff Lawrence, who will earn up to $425,000 in remuneration as a vice president.

But other appointments have been made with little fanfare.

Just weeks ago, former NSW Minister Verity Firth was quietly appointed to the board of the Australian Commission on Safety and Quality in Health Care while former ACT Chief Minister Jon Stanhope was given a lucrative job as Administrator of Christmas and Cocos Islands a role that brings an annual salary of $226,340.

John Thwaites, Victoria's deputy premier between 1999 to 2007, has been well looked after, being appointed Chair of the National Sustainability Council last October, adding to his role as Chair of the Australian Building Codes Board.

Sally Obermeder with her daughter Annabelle Grace Obermeder at home in Bondi. Picture: Justin LloydSource: The Sunday Telegraph

Sally Obermeder photogrpahed with daughter Annabelle (seven months) ahead of their first Mothers Day in May last year. Picture: Sam RuttynSource: News Limited

IN the darkest hours of her cancer treatment, all television presenter Sally Obermeder wanted was to give her beloved newborn daughter Annabelle a kiss.

But the simple gesture, something that would have brought a little normality back to her life, was banned.

Obermeder, 38, was in the middle of eight months of intensive chemotherapy after being diagnosed with stage three aggressive breast cancer in October, 2011, just a day before Annabelle was born.

"Annabelle was 10 days old when I started chemotherapy. Chemo was so toxic that I could hold her, but I wasn't allowed to kiss her," she said yesterday.

The Channel 7 reporter was given the all-clear in October. But she said finding the willpower to go ahead with more chemo was the toughest thing she's ever done. "You get beaten down," Obermeder said.

"When you're lying on the floor of the shower you just don't know if you can get up any more. It beats the fight right out of you," she said.

"I imagined a tiny spark inside of me - it doesn't matter if not every single part of your body is saying 'I want more', but you just have to fan the one tiny bit that is, so you can keep going. Then you say, 'OK, more'."

Chemo was followed by a double mastectomy to help her chances of survival, but the strain was immense. "The tumour was still in a third of my breast, so I had to have a mastectomy," she said. "After the operation, the reality hit me. Even after all that chemo, they were still chopping off my body parts to save my life. I struggled to shake feelings of shame and heartbreak. I hated myself. I felt unworthy of being in the world."

Now back at work on Today Tonight and Sydney Weekender, Obermeder said: "Cancer has changed me. I've realised how tough on myself I was. Everything was about achieving. This disease made me realise it's not about how many things you tick off your to-do list, it's about whether you're a good person."

Australian Jesse Williams is expected to go high in this week's NFL Draft.Source: Getty Images

HE'S the 150kg Australian kid who can bench press almost 300kg and owns two US college football national championship rings.

This Friday, Jesse Williams hits the big time.

"Big" is a word Williams, 22, already knows plenty about, says NFL Network analyst Daniel Jeremiah, but he is about to take things to a whole new level.

On Friday morning Australian time, Williams will become an instant millionaire and one of the hottest properties in US sports when he is picked in the National Football League draft - most likely in the first round.

At 191cm, he is only marginally shorter than AFL goliath Tom Hawkins and NRL superstar Greg Inglis, but packs an extra 45kg of pure power.

And experts predict that if things fall the right way, he's every chance of winding up at one of last year's Super Bowl contenders - the Baltimore Ravens or San Francisco 49ers.

Having won two consecutive national college titles at the University of Alabama, the indigenous Brisbane talent is on the radar of all 32 NFL teams.

And if the handful of metal didn't get their attention, video of those two colossal, tattoo-stacked arms bench pressing almost double his own body weight certainly did.

Jeremiah said he expected Williams - a defensive linesman - to be selected in the middle or late in the first round, putting him firmly in the crosshairs of the 2013 Super Bowl rivals.

"He's got a chance of going in the top 20. I would say probably more likely to go between 20 and 32, but I would be surprised if he doesn't go in the first round," Jeremiah said.

"To me, the team that makes the most sense ... is San Francisco. You could also throw up Baltimore as somebody that would make some sense there.

"At one point in time I've had him going to Minnesota - that's the one I'm kind of keeping my eye on.

"I think those teams have a need to get a younger player at that position."

Australia's path to the NFL is well known and becoming well worn, thanks to AFL-converted punters Darren Bennett, Sav Rocca and Ben Graham.

But while punters are considered disposable commodities, Jeremiah said Williams had the weapons to become our greatest export and carve out a long and lucrative career.

"It'll be millions (of dollars in his first year). It's not going to be double digits, but he'll get a strong signing bonus of over a million bucks," he said.

"This is different when you're a position player. You get a different level of respect around the league and in the media. This is the best chance to really make a name for Australia on the (American) football field."

One man well aware of Williams and his work ethic is his US agent Rick Smith.

Despite only picking up the game in Australia when he was 14, Williams worked his way from little-known Arizona Western College to the No.1 football college in the US during his four-year college career.

Smith knows he's got something special, having watched Williams haul his massive frame 40 yards in less than five seconds at the NFL draft combine.

Smith said Williams growing up away from the harsh spotlight of American football, having played rugby and basketball before taking up the sport in his mid-teens, would hold him in great stead come the draft on Friday.

"It's unique in the sense that Jesse didn't grow up with this and he didn't grow up watching NFL drafts every year," he said. "He goes through it with a little bit of a different mindset.

"He keeps his training regimen exactly where it was. He doesn't get too stressed one way or the other."

Smith said Williams had the rare combination of speed and agility for a man his size that would set him apart.

"You don't find that in everybody. You'll have one or the other in some players, but rarely do you have both, and that's really what Jesse possesses," he said.

"Jesse really wants to become the face of American football over in Australia."

FOR the chance to win a jersey from the team that drafts Williams, join our NFL draft coverage from 10am Friday.

A neighbour has captured the frightening shootout that led to the arrest of the second Boston bombing suspect

BROTHERS in arms Tamerlan and Dzhokhar Tsarnaev were living the American dream.

The masterminds behind the brutal Boston marathon bombings had escaped war-torn Chechnya and emigrated to the United States in 2002 to begin a new life.

Tamerlan, 26, a talented amateur boxer, had spoken of his desire to represent the USA in the Olympics.

Dzhokhar, 19, was a medical student at the prestigious University of Massachusetts at Dartmouth and a lifeguard at a Harvard pool.

But now one brother is dead, the other in custody.

The moment of Dzhokhar Tsarnaev's arrest after a dramatic shootout with police. Picture: via Twitter/Imgur

It is not yet known what caused the two young brothers - who came to America when they were just 15 and 8 - to turn to such violence against the nation they called home.

Just eight words helped reveal the identities of the Boston bombers, thanks to the help of hero marathon runner Jeff Bauman, who lost both of his legs in the blast.

It has been revealed the Russian FSB intelligence security service told the FBI in early 2011 about information that Tamerlan Tsarnaev, one of the brothers suspected in the Boston marathon bombings, was a follower of radical Islam, two law enforcement officials say.

They were identified by authorities and relatives as ethnic Chechens from southern Russia who had been in the US for about a decade.

According to an FBI news release issued on Friday night, a foreign government said that based on its information, Tsarnaev was a strong believer and that he had changed drastically since 2010 as he prepared to leave the US for travel to a region in that country to join unspecified underground groups.

The FBI did not name the foreign government, but the two law enforcement officials identified the FSB as the provider of the information to one of the FBI's field offices and also to FBI headquarters in Washington DC.

The two officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorised to speak on the record about the matter.

The FBI said that in response, it interviewed Tsarnaev and relatives, and did not find any domestic or foreign terrorism activity.

The FBI said it provided the results in the summer of 2011. The FBI also said that it requested but did not receive more specific or additional information from the foreign government.

The bureau added that in response to the request, it checked US government databases and other information to look for such things as derogatory telephone communications, possible use of online sites associated with the promotion of radical activity, associations with other persons of interest, travel history and plans and education history.

Dzhokhar is described by friends and neighbours as a quiet, friendly, responsible and "a normal American kid," who liked sports, skateboarding and rap music.

Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, left, and Tamerlan Tsarnaev pictured in the crowd at the Boston Marathon where they are accused of planting bombs which kileld three people and injured scores more.

Tamerlan - recently married with young daughter - life took a different path as he grew older. He became a more devout Muslim praying up to five times a day.

And last night Tamerlan was dead after a shoot out with police.

Dzhokhar was in hospital in critical condition after being found hiding out on a boat in the backyard of a home in Watertown.

The pair are alleged to have been responsible for the Boston marathon bombings that killed three and left almost 200 injured - many who had limbs blown off.

Dzhokhar Tsarnaev was captured after a dramatic manhunt in Boston. His brother, Tamerlan, was killed during a violent police chase. The two ethnic Chechen brothers came from Dagestan, a Russian republic bordering the province of Chechnya. (AP Photo/vk.com)

They allegedly packed pressure cooker bombs full with nails and ball bearings to cause maximum damage.

The men are also alleged to have killed MIT campus police officer, Sean Collier, "in cold blood" as they tried to evade a massive manhunt.

The Tsarnaevs came with their family to the United States in 2002 from Kyrgyzstan, after living briefly in the Dagestan region of Russia.

They settled into their new life as well as any new immigrant would. Both were US citizens and had outwardly been fond of their new country.

Tamerlan Tsamaev after a bout against Lamar Fenner at the 2009 Golden Gloves National Tournament in Salt Lake City, Utah. Getty images.

But within the ordinariness, there were also signs of alienation.

"I don't have a single American friend," Tamerlan said in a photo essay about his love of boxing.

"I don't understand them."

Dzhokhar was a 9/11 denier who had been seen "relaxed" at a party on the Wednesday night after the bombings.

Boston bombing suspect Dzhokhar Tsarnaev posted links to Islamic websites on what appears to be his page on a Russian language social networking site. Lily Grimes reports.

Known as Jahar, his Twitter profile contained posts of hip-hop lyrics, talks about his love for TV show Breaking Bad and chats to college friends.

Dzhokhar's actions shocked many of those who had called him their friend.

He had a loyal group of allies, who yesterday were still saying they would testify for him.

Dzhokhar was an all-star wrestler and a member of the class of 2011 at Cambridge Rindge & Latin School, and won a $2500 Cambridge City Scholarship that year.

"This is nothing we would ever expect, ever," said one high school friend, the nephew of Boston radio host Robin Young, who was identified on WBUR, the Boston National Public Radio station, only by the letter "Z."

"He was a laid-back kid you could always count on just to hang out with and really de-stress with," the friend said of Dzhokhar.

"There was never a sign of anything out of the ordinary."

Tamerlan was listed as a competitor in a National Golden Gloves competition in 2009.

Boston Marathon bomb victim Krystle Campbell, 29. Picture: AP

He told the Lowell Sun newspaper in a 2004 interview after winning his first fight that he liked "the USA."

He told Boston University student Johannes Hirn, who profiled him in a photo essay that if he were to become a naturalised American and chosen for the US Olympic team, "he'd rather compete for the United States than for Russia," unless his native Chechnya became independent.

Tamerlan had studied accounting at Bunker Hill Community College. He recently posted YouTube videos indicating interest in radicalised Muslim ideologies. But he had dropped out of college and increasingly become more interested in his religion.

The North Caucasus region of Chechnya that the two escaped from with their families has been ravaged by two back-to-back wars since 1994 between Russia's army and increasingly Islamist-leaning separatist rebels, and the mountainous region still sees occasional fighting.

Boston Marathon bomb victim Lingzi Lu . (AP Photo/Meixu Lu)

There was evidence that Tamerlan was a corrosive influence on his younger brother.

Zaur Tsarnaev, who identified himself as a 26-year-old cousin of the brothers, told the Boston Globe in a phone interview from Makhachkala, in southern Russia, that he had warned Dzhokhar that Tamerlan "was up to no good."

He said the older brother "was always getting into trouble. He was never happy, never cheering, never smiling. He used to strike his girlfriend. He hurt her a few times. He was not a nice man. I don't like to speak about him. He caused problems for my family."

An uncle of the two men, Ruslan Tsarni, said yesterday his nephews had shamed the family name as well as Chechnya, where the family has roots.

Speaking from his home in Makhachkala in Russia's south, the father of the Tsarnaev brothers suspected of carrying out the Boston Marathon attack says his children were framed. Deborah Gembara reports.

"Somebody radicalised them, but it's not my brother, who just moved back to Russia, who spent his life bringing bread to their table, fixing cars," he said.

"I've not been in touch with my brother."

Mr Tsarni said he had not seen his nephews since December 2005. But he said he had never heard the two associated with any violence.

"I teach my children, and that is what I feel myself. . I respect this country and I love this country. This country which gives a chance to everybody else to be treated as a human being and to be a human being . that's what I feel about this country," he said.

Maret Tsarnaev, the aunt of the Boston suspects says they couldn't have done this

BOSTON'S extraordinary manhunt began with eight words, written down by one of the victims of the marathon bombing, who has now been hailed a hero.

He wrote: "Bag, saw the guy, looked right at me".

Jeff Bauman had been waiting for his girlfriend to cross the finish line when a man wearing a cap, sunglasses and a black jacket over a hooded sweatshirt looked him in the eyes and dropped a bag at his feet.

Boston Marathon bomb suspect number two is in custody after law enforcement arrested him after a brief stand-off. Fox News

Two and a half minutes later, the bag exploded, tearing the 27-year-old's legs apart.

A picture of him in a wheelchair, bloodied and ashen, was broadcast around the world as he was rushed to Boston Medical Centre. He lost both legs below the knee.

An emergency responder and two volunteers, including Carlos Arredondo, centre in cowboy hat, push Jeff Bauman in a wheelchair after he was injured in an explosion near the finish line of the Boston Marathon on April 15. Picture: APSource: AP

The first thing he did when he came round, woozy from medication, was to ask his brother, Chris, for some paper and a pen.

The words he wrote down helped crack open the biggest terrorism case in the US since the 9/11 atrocity and confirmed the suspicions of FBI agents searching videos from the scene.

An official told CNN: "When the bombs blow up, when most people are running away and victims were lying on the ground, the two suspects walk away pretty casually. They acted differently than everyone else."

The FBI showed Mr Bauman the images and he was able to pick out the man he had seen.

Within hours the FBI had released photographs of Dzhokhar and Tamerlan Tsarnaev. Tip-offs came pouring in immediately.

Now Bauman is on the long, painful road to recovery, after his son also lost his lower limbs from the bombing. This is an earlier message he posted on Facebook after the attacks.

Jeff Bauman Snr posts an update about his son on Facebook.Source: Supplied

His friends have set up a fundraising page online called 'Bucks for Bauman' to help him cover the cost of his medical treatment.

Their goal is to reach $1 million dollars, and already, more than $375,000 in donations have been pledged.

The page states:"We have created this fundraiser to raise money to help support our dear friend, Jeff and his family. As most of you know, Jeff was severely affected by the tragedy that had taken place at the Patriots Day Boston Marathon this year. Throughout this difficult time we want to help in every which way we possibly can to get Bauman back on track as soon as possible.

"Medical bills are going to start rolling in, let's get a head start on helping out Bauman and his family! Every dollar counts!!"

"We all knew you were the nicest kid, now we know your the strongest!!"

NORTH Korea has moved two more missile launchers to its east coast, where preparations are apparently under way for a missile test as tensions simmer on the peninsula, a report said.

Expectations had been high that Pyongyang would carry out a test to coincide with celebrations marking the birth of North Korea's late founding leader Kim Il-Sung on April 15 but it did not materialise.

The North Korean military last week moved two launchers believed to be for Scud missiles to the northeast province of South Hamgyong, Yonhap news agency said, citing a senior Seoul official.

"We have discovered the North has moved two additional TELs (transporter erector launchers) to the east coast... after April 16," the official was quoted as saying, adding Seoul and Washington were closely monitoring the site.

A spokesman for Seoul's defence ministry was not immediately available to confirm the report.

South Korean army soldiers patrol at Unification Bridge in Paju, South Korea, near the border village of Panmunjom. Picture: AP/Ahn Young-joon

Previously, the North was reported to have moved seven missile launchers to its coast facing the East Sea (Sea of Japan) in apparent preparations for a test that would further escalate tensions.

Angered by fresh UN sanctions triggered by its third nuclear test in February and joint South Korea-US military exercises, the North has for weeks been issuing threats of missile strikes and nuclear war.

But despite the passing of the Kim Il-Sung anniversary, a Seoul defence ministry spokesman said Thursday that the possibility of a test involving shorter-range Scud, mid-range Musudan, or long-range Rodong missiles remained.

April 25 could be another possible date for a missile launch, the report said, quoting military officials in Seoul. That is the founding anniversary of the North's military.

The Musudan - seen as most likely to be tested - has an estimated range of 2,500 to 4,000 kilometres, enough to reach South Korea and Japan and potentially US military bases on the Pacific island of Guam.

US President Barack Obama has expressed doubt over the North's capabilities, saying last week he did not believe Pyongyang could yet arm a missile with a nuclear warhead.

Boston Marathon bombing suspect Dzhokhar Tsarnaev in an ambulance after he was captured in Watertown. The suspect is unable to speak to investigators but was cursing as he was captured and rushed to hospital. Picture: APSource: AP

Investigators released stunning images of Tsarnaev's final moments of freedom, slumbering wounded in a boat in a suburban backyard. They are also stepping up inquiries into a trip to Muslim regions of Russia taken by his accomplice brother, 26-year-old Tamerlan Tsarnaev.

NBC News reported that authorities were finalising federal charges against Tsarnaev and hoped to charge him later today.

"He is in no condition to be interrogated at this time," Boston Police Commissioner Ed Davis told Fox News Sunday.

"He's progressing, though, and we're monitoring the situation at this time."

Mr Davis said a specialist interrogation team is waiting to question the suspect.

The 19-year-old is "serious but stable," Massachusetts governor Deval Patrick told reporters on Saturday. "I think not able to communicate yet."

Massachusetts State Police have released this aerial image of Boston bombing suspect Dzhokhar Tsarnaev hiding in a boat. The boat's owner, who found the suspect and called 911, is "distraught" and has gone into hiding, neighbours say.

Mr Patrick said he hopes the teenager survives.

"We have a million questions and those questions need to be answered," he said.

US media reported Tsarnaev suffered a throat wound during a shoot-out with police after a massive manhunt in which Tamerlan was killed.

Despite the throat wound, Tsarnaev cursed profusely in the ambulance ride to the hospital after his arrest, the Los Angeles Times reported, citing an FBI source.

The Tsarnaev brothers are the main suspects in the double bomb attack on the Boston marathon which killed three people wounded about 180. A policeman was killed and another was left fighting for his life after gunbattles during the hunt.

Commissioner Davis told CBS' Face the Nation that the crime scene from the early Friday firefight in Watertown was "littered" with unexploded improvised explosive devices.

Mr Davis says it's his belief that based on the evidence at the scene and the firepower the brothers had that they "were going to attack other individuals" .

Dzhokhar Tsarnaev was under armed guard at a hospital where some victims of the bombings are also being treated. Counter-terrorism agents trained in interrogating "high-value" detainees were waiting to question him, a law official told AFP.

Prosecutors were also at the Beth Israel Deaconess Hospital in Cambridge, just outside Boston, working out charges.

Media reports say authorities did not read Tsarnaev his usual Miranda rights to see a lawyer or stay when he was captured, invoking a special exception for security reasons.

That has left US authorities facing tough decisions over how to handle the investigation and any trial.

Republican Senators John McCain and Lindsey Graham have led calls for the teenager to be declared an "enemy combatant," which would give him the same status as Guantanamo "war on terror" detainees.

Law enforcement investigate the scene where bombing suspect was caught in Watertown, Massachusetts. A specialist high-value interrogation team is waiting to question the suspect, who is in critical condition. Picture: AFP

Legal rights groups have been quick to insist that he face a criminal trial, even though Tsarnaev would be likely to face a death penalty calls.

The Tsarnaev family are ethnic Chechens who moved to the US from the former Soviet state of Kyrgyzstan around 2002.

Media reports say Tamerlan Tsarnaev became a fervent Muslim in recent years. Much focus is now being put on his six month trip to the Russian region of Dagestan last year.

US President Barack Obama and Russian President Vladimir Putin agreed during telephone talks Saturday to increase cooperation against international terrorism, the Kremlin and White House said.

The FBI acknowledged on Friday that an unnamed foreign government, reportedly Russia, asked for information about Tamerlan Tsarnaev in 2011. The FBI interviewed the man but said it had found no "derogatory" information.

The men's social media pages appeared to express sympathy with the struggle in Chechnya, which has been ravaged by two wars since 1994 between Russia and Islamist-leaning separatist rebels.

A neighbour has captured the frightening shootout that led to the arrest of the second Boston bombing suspect

Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, who became a US citizen last year, was caught after a man named Dave Henneberry saw blood on boat he kept in his backyard in Watertown, in the Boston suburbs. When Henneberry lifted the tarp he saw the wounded teenager curled up inside, police said.

The University of Massachusetts student was surrounded for a showdown that included a final gunbattle before Tsarnaev surrendered to authorities.

Thermal images taken by a police helicopter overhead showed Tsarnaev slumbering in the covered boat. They also showed a robotic arm reaching to lift the cover so cameras could peek inside.

Over the weekend crowds gathered outside Mr Henneberry's home, craning their necks to gaze at his bullet-riddled and blood-smeared 1980s boat.

Neighbour George Pizzuto said that Mr Henneberry was "in shock" and "totally distraught" at the events of Friday night, and is not talking to reporters.

Mr Henneberry has gone into hiding and the boat, his prized possession, is being kept under wraps by police as they collect evidence against Tsarnaev.

Police say the brothers killed one officer and wounded another as they fled, hurling home-made bombs at their hunters.

Tamerlan Tsarnaev died in one gunbattle. His brother was also shot but escaped, bloody and wounded.

Watertown police chief Edward Deveau said the pair had at least six bombs with them when being chased and that Dzhokhar had driven over his brother as he escaped.

Fifty-eight of the victims from the bomb attack are still in Boston hospitals, with three in critical condition.

EARLIER

Police Commissioner Davis said releasing photos was a turning point for the manhunt, as the wait to interview a suspect continues.

US President Barack Obama holds a meeting in the Situation Room to discuss the investigation into the Boston bombings. The surviving suspect was not read his rights, based on a public safety exemption, which could complicate his trial. Picture: AFP

Mr Davis has told the Boston Globe that releasing the photos of the two suspects in the Marathon bombing "may have led to the further attack" against MIT police officer Sean Collier.

He said it "was a turning point in the investigation, no doubt about it".

"It forced them out of their hideout and they decided to commit further violent acts."

His comments came as residents of Watertown, Boston, gathered to pay tribute to the the victims of the Boston Marathon bombing, after they were forced in to lockdown mode until the manhunt was over.

Investigators have also examined the boat where Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, 19, was hiding and shot multiple times before he was taken into police custody.

They have also searched the house of their sister, Alina, Tsarnaev, who lives in the US.

The FBI have seized a computer from her home and he is cooperating with police.

Their motives for committing such a crime are still unknown.

Boston Marathon bomb suspect number two is in custody after law enforcement arrested him after a brief stand-off. Fox News

Late Friday the FBI confirmed it had investigated Tamerlan Tsarnaev two years ago. The FBI said it received information from "a foreign government" that he was a follower of radical Islam and had changed drastically in 2010 as he prepared to travel overseas to join "unspecified underground groups".

Crowds cheer on the police after news of the arrest breaks in Boston. Picture: AP

People visit a make-shift memorial on Boylston Street. near the scene of Boston Marathon explosions as people get back to their daily routine after a city-wide lockdown and the capture of the surviving suspect. Picture: AFP

Children attend a candlelight vigil at Victory Park in Watertown, Massachusetts, as authorities wait to question Dzhokhar A. Tsarnaev, who is in serious condition in hospital. Picture: Getty

President Obama has praised the efforts of law enforcement after the arrest of suspect number two in the Boston bombing. Fox News

A gathering of people applaud as first responders leave the scene after the arrest. Picture: AP

A Boston resident tells of a shooting while out walking the dog after the stay indoor request was lifted

Maret Tsarnaev, the aunt of the Boston suspects says they couldn't have done this